of years with the consent of the Lord of the Manor. The subsequent waves of rebuilding which have resulted in the total eradication of the earlier medieval structures are easily explained by the parallel phases of development seen elsewhere in the county. In particular the "Age of Improvement", roughly from 1750 to 1850 saw rapid gains in agricultural and industrial efficiency. Milburn would have benefited significantly from enhanced crop yields and from the opening of the mines which also occurred at this time (references to the rich Silverband mine on Dun Fell, behind the village, appear from 1709). The scale of the improvement in rural fortunes is demonstrated by the stylish ambition guiding the design of the replacement buildings. Doors are adorned with classical features such as architraves and pediments, and windows are surrounded by elaborate mouldings. It seems likely that medieval structures first began to disappear at this time, the process being consolidated as the improvement in the wealth of the village continued during the 19th century. The flimsy nature of the earlier structures has ensured that nothing from the medieval phase survives, though it is notable that many of the replacement buildings contain timbers which have clearly had an earlier history. It is very common, for example, to find exposed oak beams which now support floors but which contain joints which show they used to be part of a roof. Similarly many beams are drilled to show they once formed part of wattle and daub partitions. Taken together with a very limited number of recent developments dating from the 20th and 21st centuries, this is the village in its present form. Geography The village stands on a shelf of Saint Bees sandstone, overlain here by a thick layer of glacial deposits. This sandstone underlies most of the Eden Valley and, in fact, runs right beneath the volcanic deposits of the Lake District to emerge eventually on the Solway coast, whence its name. It is quarried locally at numerous sites and has provided the principal building material for most of the older houses in the village. Its soft, red colouration gives the village a warm, welcoming appearance, a characteristic of the whole Eden Valley. The glacial deposits have given rise to heavy, fertile soils which are suitable for both arable and livestock farming. The soils also contain many rounded boulders of varying sizes which, because of their hardness provide